13 Aug 2011

7 Aug 2011

If you're like me, then you've had your share of bruises and discomfort from your heel rubbing against the back of a closed shoe. Back in college, I took several trips to the Infirmary just to ask for a Band Aid, because I couldn't take the pain :l I mean, skin peeling off is not exactly a joy.

But then, I eventually discovered a simple, and much more permanent solution to this problem. Heel Pads. These are little cushions that you stick to the back of the shoe so that it doesn't hurt when your foot rubs against it. These are available in Watsons (which is where I always get them), but are also now available in Department Stores and some shoe shops. Scholl is the brand that has this, and one pack (a pair of heel grips) costs about PhP 190. It's a bit expensive, but it lasts long and really makes walking with closed shoes a lot more comfortable. Watsons has their own version, which is cheaper, but rarely available. There is also one that comes in gel form, but I don't recommend it, because the stick isn't as good, and the gel gets thinner, which make the padding pretty much useless.

Scholl Heel Grips (one pair/pack)

Felt-like cushion stickers

Stick it to the back part of the shoe (long side on top)

And you're done! Good bye, pain!

All my flat shoes have this. It really does the trick! Haven't had skin peeling, bruises or pain problems since I discovered this. Go and try it! You'll spare yourself from having to look for an emergency Band Aid somewhere :D

28 Jul 2011

I'm not really a huge fan of Ed Westwick.... to me he will always be the scheming Chuck Bass >:) But hey, he's giving Penshoppe a new face, which I think is really good coz the brand does need a revamp.

And as an endorser, he's got it down.... smouldering eyes and everything ;)

17 Jul 2011

One my biggest fashion icons would have to be Duchess Catherine, the former Kate Middleton, whose style is absolutely classy, chic, and polished. She always looks gorgeous, no matter what she's wearing. Picture perfect at every moment. True royalty.

She is my inspiration for this London look I put together.

I paired a simple, but elegant dress with classic black pumps, and topped it off with a big, floppy hat.

When I think of London, I imagine having a tea party.

Dress from Topshop. Hat made and bought locally from Quezon. Black pumps from Wade.

Another thing about this look is that most of what I'm wearing was actually just given to me as gifts! I only bought the black pumps. The pink dress (which is actually my very first Topshop piece to own) was given to me as a birthday gift from some of my closest friends. The hat, would you believe, came from Quezon, during the Pahiyas Festival. My dear friend got it for me as a souvenir :) It's locally made, and I think it's gorgeous. Who says Pinoy products aren't top quality? I think it's London worthy!

Someday, I dream of walking the streets of London wearing something like this. And who knows.... maybe have a spot of tea or two ;)

I wanted to go for a more elegant feel with this look, while still keeping it fun. That's why I decided to pair the white ruffled top and the salmon-colored electric pleated trousers (more formal) with the floral wedges (fresh!) :) This look is also a product of my mid-year sale escapades.

The wide-legged trousers from Topshop were half off, cutting the price down to PhP 1,200.The floral wedges from Aldo were also on sale, and I got them for PhP 2,800 (from about 4k!)
Two great pieces from two great brands at really good prices! :) It's times like these when Patience really is a virtue. It pays to wait a while til shops go on sale... then you score really great finds and manage to save some money ;)

15 Jul 2011

I just came from my favorite nail salon in Katipunan called Enza. For all those around the area, I highly suggest you try it out. It's located near KFC, across My Place, the dorm. I went with my friend there once to try it out, and ever since, that's where I've been going to get my nails done :)

It's just a small place, real quaint. The ambiance is pleasant and relaxing, perfect for de-stressing. Everyone there is real nice too :) Friendly and fun to talk to. The best thing about it is that you get great value for your money. Their Mani-Pedi is only PhP 290, and that already comes with their special Orly nail polish. The price is cheaper if you opt to use regular nail polish. Using Orly is an extra PhP 60.

Orly has got to be my favorite nail polish brand now, coz it has great colors and textures. That is, they have nail polish with a matte finish. It's the first time I ever tried this kind, and I must say, it has a great and unique look! Nothing like the ones I've tried on before. Orly's also of really good quality. It can go to about 2 weeks without being chipped :)

Today in my visit, I was really happy to find the exact color I wanted to paint my finger nails-- a salmon shade which I am quite addicted to right now. Apparently it just arrived. Perfect timing! Happiness! To top it all off, after my mani and pedi, I got a free back massage (for filling up my loyalty card) which I must say, was divine. Heaven oh heaven.

I'm real happy with how the polish turned out. I'm just loving the matte finish on my toe nails, and the pretty salmon color on my finger nails <3

14 Jul 2011

8 Jul 2011

So remember I said I'd get a piece from the summer Aldo collection I fell in love with? Well today, I finally did!

I was in luck, because before going back home from my Mom's birthday lunch at Greenbelt, we took a little detour and checked out the Aldo sale. I remember really wanting to get the floral pumps I saw before. And yes, they were on sale. Buuut sadly, they didn't have it in my size (their biggest was a size 9 which STILL didn't fit my feet. Oh why oh why must my feet be so HUGE.) I looked around some more, and saw a pair with the same floral design, but were wedges. So strange, because with this pair, size 9 was too big. The size 8 fit just right :D Since they only had one pair in that size, I called it destiny and brought these babies home.

Yes, they may be "out of season", but you know how fashion is.... it fades, but always comes back! And besides, I think floral shoes are a pretty good staple piece to have in your closet :)

So here they are :D From about Php 4,000 I got these for PhP 2,800. Not bad for a pair of Aldo shoes. Happiness!

30 Jun 2011

26 Jun 2011

The last few years, I've had to fly to Bangkok, the beautiful capital of Thailand, for work-related projects. Being part of a multinational advertising agency has allowed me to brainstorm with other like-minded creatives in the region and work on foreign TV productions over there.

Last month, I went back for an editing job and during my downtime, I was able to go around the city and do some window- and actual shopping.

Bangkok is famous in Asia for carrying fashionable items at dirt cheap prices. And I say this as a Filipino (to think that the prices of clothes, shoes and accessories in general over here are very affordable compared to those of our Asian neighbors). Whenever I'm in Bangkok, I can't help but mentally compute the price differences of various items. Their clothes cost a fraction of ours here, their gadgets are significantly cheaper and to fill one's stomach with food won't cost you more than a few baht.

The thing with Bangkok is that you need to know where to look. To shop at high-end brands, you would go to malls such as Siam Paragon and CentralWorld.

To get style-eco friendly looks, you would hit the night markets of Bangkok (they're on every street and pedestrian overpass starting 8 pm), malls such as Platinum (floor after floor of really fashionable but more than affordable clothes), MBK (which I will write about in a bit) and the Chatuchak Weekend Market (famous for its really wide range of items at bargain prices).

Here are some of my photos from my last trip.

A typical street market scene. You can find almost anything under the sun from dresses, tops, skirts, shorts, trousers, leggings, jewelry, shoes, bags and sunglasses in these street markets. Don't forget to haggle, too. Chances are that cheap item you're eyeing will be sold to you for much cheaper. The Thai vendors are generous like that.

Printed trousers on sale at 179 baht (PhP 250 or USD 5). Did I mention that stylish clothes were really affordable in Bangkok?

One of the many tables selling sunnies for just 69 baht (PhP 95 or USD 2).

This is one of their high-end malls, CentralWorld.

A couple of hundred meters away from CentralWorld via the walkway system is my most favorite shopping place, MBK. It's one huge mall (eight floors) that sells the most varied things from gadgets to clothes, shoes, bags, accessories and everything else you can possibly think of.

A shot from one of the many intersecting escalators. MBK's interiors are something to look at. If you haven't been inside long and frequently enough, you might get confused because of how big it is.

Printed tops priced at 299 baht (roughly PhP 400 or USD 8.50).

Whenever I shop for my brothers, I always make sure to pass by this particular stall. It carries branded sportswear for a fraction of what they would buy here in Manila. I was able to buy a pair of the latest Adidas basketball shoes for our brother Chuck for roughly PhP 2,500.

At Loft (located in Siam Discovery), one can find this wall of make-up accessories. Because of how the items were stocked, you leave the place wishing you could've bought every single one of them.

Thailand is famous for their silk. So, men, you should seriously stock up on neckties whenever you visit Bangkok. I always make sure to get several for my dad, a necktie fanatic. You can buy affordable ties at MBK for 100 baht (PhP 140 or USD 3) or pricier ones at 500 baht (PhP 700 or USD 15). This shot was taken inside Tokyu, in the department store within MBK.

According to my Filipino friend who now works in our Bangkok office, OPI is the staple nail polish brand used in salons across Bangkok. A far cry, I daresay, from our salons here which usually carry local brands. Not that I have anything against local brands (in fact, our blog aims to promote brands whose quality and styles are at par with foreign ones) but I've yet to encounter a local nail polish brand that doesn't chip easily and has a wide range of options in terms of colors and texture.

A shot of the night market across the street from my hotel, which was Arnoma.

The Thai have a very unique sense of fashion. I'm not quite sure if this girl was trying to pull off a Kate Middleton-esque look.

Even bunnies there are fashionable. Buy one bunny, get a bunny outfit for free!

Rings are everywhere in Bangkok. These were sold on a blanket laid out on a pedestrian overpass. You can get silver and brass rings for as low as 30 baht (PhP 45 or US 95 cents), 50 baht (PhP 75 or USD 1.60) and 80 baht (PhP 112 or USD 2.40) depending on the style and size.

Really cheap belts of every color and every style can be bought from the night markets for only 50 baht (PhP 70 or USD 1.50). I regret not hoarding. Imagine how many of these I can pair with different kinds of shorts or jeans? Failure on my end.

To end this photo-heavy post, here's a shot of me with one of my unique finds there: an iPhone case in the form of an old school casette tape.

It would be great to take Cooky with me the next time I go. I'm pretty sure she'll go wild when she sees all the things she can buy there. The last time we were there as a family (it was a girls' bonding trip with our mom after I graduated from college) was seven years ago. It'd be great to go there purely for leisure and for sightseeing.

23 Jun 2011

Lately I've been on house arrest since my body physically expressed its need to rest. In short, I've needed to stop moving and moving (which I must say, is hard for me) and just stay at home, take it easy, and recuperate. Well, since I've been home, what better way is there to entertain myself than to go online. And since I've been itching to shop, my only resort was to go online shopping. These days, that isn't so hard to do.

BUT since I don't have all the money in the world (because yes, the world doesn't work that way), and I'm still waiting for heaven to send me a job offer so I can start earning, I've had to reside to making this shoe wish list. These are styles, colors and designs I've found on various online shops, that I absolutely adore (and secretly wish I could bippity boppity boo into my shoe closet).

Prices for these babies usually range from PhP 1,500-2,000. Not bad. Only bother is that there's an extra charge for the shipping fee. :/

I'm loving nude colors, as well as bright colors on wedges and heels. Such beautiful creatures. Don't you agree?

Oh, and I forgot to mention.... as much as I'd love to buy all these pairs, there's a minor (well actually BIG) problem that always gets me depressed. Shoe sizes. Yes, with my not-very-Asian height, I'm always on the hunt for size 9's and 10's, which are not always, in fact rarely available. So many times I've found the perfect pair of shoes, only to be devastated that they didn't have it my size. Oh the misery. So yes, you can imagine my joy when I actually do find one that fits perfectly! :)

So for now, I will just admire from a far... or in this case, from the screen. But I promise, the day I actually get a good pair delivered to me, I will most definitely share my joy will ya'll ;) Keep shoe lovin!

About

This fashion blog is co-owned and maintained by the Araneta sisters, Cooky and Tina. One is a lover of fashion, retail therapy and entrepreneurship; the other, a lover of words, photography and design. Together, they hope to show that style doesn't come with a price tag.

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